Why Choose Loose Leaf Tea?

Similar to the debate of choosing pods vs. brewed coffee, the long-running discussion of loose-leaf tea vs. teabags rages on. Most vendors immediately choose teabags whether they believe they are cheaper or succumbing to the myth that they are more convenient. What many vendors don’t realize is that loose teas provide a premium quality, flavor, merchandising options, and a surprisingly lower priced product that can’t simply be found in teabags alone.

One of the most fundamental decisions every tea seller makes is whether to market and sell loose leaf tea or bagged tea. With all of the teabag tweaking and repackaging that has been going on in the last few years, many folks jump immediately onto the teabag band wagon, not realizing there is a whole range of other options to consider.

When considering this question of loose vs. bagged  there are two factors you should consider before all others, quality and cost. Of course there are additional issues to consider such as convenience, consumer trends, meeting quantity demands etc.

The Quality of Loose vs. Bagged 

The upper range of loose leaf tea is of tremendously higher quality than any bagged tea. This is a fact that all great teas are loose leaf teas. There is no great tea in teabags. There are some teabag manufacturers sputtering with indignation and getting red in the face right now. But we stand by our statement; there are no great teas in teabags. By great tea I mean competition level or world class tea. There are no teabags that equal the quality of the best loose leaf teas.

The Cost (Profit Margin) of Loose vs. Bagged 

When looking at the cost or profit margin issue, the gap between loose tea and bagged tea is even more dramatic. Simply put, there is a phenomenally higher profit margin in loose tea than in teabags. Looking at wholesale prices, you can easily purchase good to excellent loose leaf tea for between one - eight cents per cup. You can purchase great and competition level loose teas for 10 - 20¢ per cup. The trendy super-premium teabags seem to run between 30 - 70¢ per cup. And these super-premium teabags are still not as good as the best loose-leaf teas, despite the fact that they are 5 to 10 times more costly.

The Myth of Teabag Convenience 

The primary reason people choose teabags is “The Myth of Teabag Convenience.” This is the big gun of teabag advocates, that teabags are much more convenient than loose-leaf tea. This is just a myth but it has been around so long, that it has almost achieved the status of accepted wisdom. But it is simply not true.

Without exception most people have a strongly held belief that teabags are less work than loose-leaf teas. So one of our jobs is shooting holes in the myth of teabag convenience.

We always ask: "will converting to loose-leaf tea will be extra work" (i.e. less convenient). Invariably the answer is yes. So we offer them this challenge. Verde will prepare loose leaf tea and they will prepare teabags as they have always done. We almost always finish at the same time. And then I have them taste the two teas. The loose-leaf tea almost sells itself. There are so many clever ways to steep loose-leaf tea today (do-it-yourself disposable teabags, in-cup or in-pot brewing baskets etc.) that it doesn’t take any longer to prepare a two-cup (standard restaurant size) pot of tea, than it takes to prepare a two-cup pot of tea with teabags.

Additional Benefits of Loose Tea 

In addition to better quality and higher profit margins, there are some other good reasons to market and sell loose-leaf tea. First, there are many more flavor choices and blend options available with loose-leaf tea. In fact with loose-leaf teas it is very easy and affordable to create custom and proprietary blends, signature items that are absolutely unique to your customer’s business. With teabags there is a huge economy of scale necessary that makes it difficult and much more costly to create proprietary blends.

Also in retail settings (from coffee shop to tea store to traditional grocery store) there are the additional sales of other tea brewing/infusing devices, when you are selling loose-leaf teas.

Another reason to focus on loose-leaf tea is that is where the growth is. Teabag sales in the U.S. are flat, at best. Specialty loose-leaf teas are on a very healthy upward trend.

In addition, we believe there are many more merchandising opportunities using loose-leaf tea vs. teabag tea. Loose-leaf teas are much more eye appealing than another box teabags on the shelf.

But keep in mind this fundamental truth, loose-leaf tea is one of the few things in the world that delivers much higher quality at a much lower cost. Shouldn’t this be one of your primary goals in working with all of your customers?

* Excerpts taken from “Get Loose: The benefits of loose tea” by Bill Waddington